Numbers 23

The Pulpit Commentary - Numbers 23:27

I will bring thee unto another place. At first ( Numbers 23:25 ) Balak had in his vexation desired to stop the mouth of Balaam, but afterwards he thought it wiser to make yet another attempt to change the mind of God; as a heathen, he still thought that this might be done by dint of importunity and renewed sacrifices. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Numbers 23:28

Unto the top of Peer. On the meaning of Peer see on Numbers 25:3 . This Peer was a summit of the Abarim ranges northwards from Pisgah, and nearer to the Israelites. The adjacent village, Beth-Peer, was near the place of Moses' burial ( Deuteronomy 34:6 ). From the phrase used in Deuteronomy 3:29 ; Deuteronomy 4:46 , with which the testimony of Eusebius agrees, it must have lain almost opposite Jericho on the heights behind the Arboth Moab. From Peer, therefore, the whole... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:1

Balaam, after the general custom of the pagan, prefaced his divinations by sacrifice. In the number of the altars regard was probably had to the number of the then known planets. Yet Balaam evidently intended his sacrifice as an offering to the true God. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:3

Balaam apparently expected to mark some phenomenon in the sky or in nature, which he would be able, according to the rules of his art, to interpret as a portent. It was for such “auguries” (not as the King James Version “enchantments” Numbers 23:23) that he now departed to watch; contrast Numbers 24:1.An high place - Or, “A bare place on the hill,” as opposed to the high place with its grove of trees. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:4

God met Balaam - God served His own purposes through the arts of Balaam, and manifested His will through the agencies employed to seek it, dealing thus with Balaam in an exceptional manner. To God’s own people auguries were forbidden Leviticus 19:26.I have prepared seven altars - And therefore Balaam expected that God on His part would do what was desired by the donor; compare Numbers 22:15 note. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:7

Aram - Or, “highland.” This term denotes the whole elevated region, from the northeastern frontier of Palestine to the Euphrates and the Tigris. The country between these streams was especially designated “Aram-naharaim,” or “Aram of the two rivers:” the Greeks called it Mesopotamia; and here, according to Deuteronomy 23:4, was Balaam’s home. Compare Numbers 22:5 note. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:9

For from the top of the rocks ... - The “for” indicates the constraint under which Balaam felt himself. He had been met by God in his own way; from the cliff he had watched for the expected augury; and by the light of this he here interprets, according to the rules of his art, the destiny of Israel.Dwell alone - i. e., apart from others, undisturbed by their tumults, and therefore in safety and just security. Compare the same idea in marginal reference; Jeremiah 49:31; and Micah 7:14. This... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:10

The fourth part of Israel - i. e., each one of the four camps, into which the host of Israel was divided (see Numbers 2:0), seemed to swarm with innumerable multitudes. Possibly Balaam could only see one camp. Balaam bears testimony in this verse to the fulfillment of the promises in Genesis 13:16; Genesis 28:14.The righteous - i. e., the ancestors of Israel, who “died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off” Hebrews 11:13. With their histories Balaam was... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:13

Balak seems to hope that the prophet’s words in Numbers 23:10 reflected the impression conveyed by the scene before him at the moment of the augury; and so that the sight of a mere few straggling Israelites in the utmost part of the camp might induce a different estimate of their resources and prospects. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 23:14

The field of Zophim - Or, “of watchers.” It lay upon the top of Pisgah, north of the former station, and nearer to the Israelite camp; the greater part of which was, however, probably concealed from it by an intervening spur of the hill. Beyond the camp Balaam’s eye would pass on to the bed of the Jordan. It was perhaps a lion coming up in his strength from the swelling of that stream (compare Jeremiah 49:19) that furnished him with the augury he awaited, and so dictated the final similitude of... read more

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